Field of the Invention:
This invention relates generally to sports equipment, and more particularly to the novel design of a racket specially designed for hitting baseballs and softballs during fielding practice.
II. Discussion of the Prior Art:
It is well known that baseball and softball are highly popular sports for young boys and girls throughout the world. It is estimated that the Little League program involves more than 175,000 teams in the United States alone. Team coaches are often parents of one or more of the team players and it is an understatement to say that many are not particularly competent at throwing a ball in the air and hitting it with a standard baseball or softball bat during the course of fielding practice. They naturally suffer some degree of embarrassment after several tries when they either miss the ball completely or dribble a grounder a few feet in front of them. Cat calls or comments from the youngsters may prove hard to take.
To accommodate those individuals who are not particularly skilled at tossing a ball in the air and hitting it to outfielders, I have devised a racket which allows this to be done with considerable accuracy after only a very few tries. By simply dropping the ball while swinging the racket underhand with a desired force, baseballs and softballs can be lofted into the air along a desired arc to the players who are attempting to improve their ball catching techniques.
It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved racket, especially designed to hit objects, such as standard baseballs and softballs.
Another object of the invention is to provide a racket of the type having a frame supporting a net which is held in tension by a plurality of elastic bands whereby the energy of the impact between the ball and the net is effectively transferred to the ball.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a ball racket of the type described which is rugged in its construction and capable of holding up over long periods of use.